In the film A River Runs Through It — Robert Redford’s cinematic adaptation of Norman Maclean’s book of the same name — a young Brad Pitt triumphantly hooks a huge brown trout while fishing in a running river. It pulls him dramatically downstream, until he emerges with the fish in his hand and a smile plastered on his face.
It’s the stuff of dreams for anglers, said John Grace, public relations chair of Santa Barbara Flyfishers.
“It was the fly-fishing scenes that people globbed onto,” Grace said. “You yearn to get back to the river with them.”
No other film has impacted fly-fishing more than this one — launching fly-fishing into the mainstream and dramatically increasing interest in the sport.
On Tuesday, March 31, the Flyfishers are hosting a panel and film screening of A River Runs Through It at the Lobero Theater, to support their club and ongoing conservation efforts for the endangered Santa Barbara steelhead trout.
Panelists include actor Tom Skerritt, a lead role in the film, as well as Eric Ladd, chairman of the American Rivers Board; John Maclean, journalist and son of author Norman Maclean; Kayeloni Scott, tribalist member and Nez Perce descendant; and Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited.
Grace said the panelists will “think about the movie differently,” and look at it from various angles: creative storytelling, fishing experience, indigenous perspectives, and conservation. After the panel discussion, they will play the movie.
“There was a cultural shift in the sport after the movie,” Grace said. “It showed anyone can do this — have a meditative escape, a relationship with the outdoors — and also brought attention to conservation and environmental stewardship around the rivers and streams the sport depends on.”
As Norman Maclean wrote…”Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.”
The event takes place Tuesday, March 31, at 6:15 p.m. at the Lobero Theater. Tickets are donation-based, with a suggested donation of $25.00 to benefit the Flyfishers and the “Save Santa Barbara Steelhead” Campaign.
Learn more at http://www.sbflyfishers.org.
